Searching for some adult power metal? For some power metal detoxified from the "Dungeons & Dragons" stereotype? For some power metal clean of orchestrations, so that you can recognize guitarwork & co? If that's what you're looking for, then you'll adore Firewind, and in particular The Premonition.

Whenever I pick up Firewind's latest effort, Days Of Defiance, I always end up listening to this instead. Classy, polished, catchy, heavy and prog-tinged, nicely written and performed - probably as high as this band's gonna get. No cigar in 2011 for you, lads. But it's cool, this one has got enough swag in it to last for several years.

The first few songs on this album are excellent, really well-written and performed, perhaps the best in the band's cannon. But from that point on (save for 'Remembered'), I think the quality drops a little, mainly due to a lack of originality in my opinion. That said, it's still a fairly consistent album when you consider the vocals are more powerful than in past albums, and the instrumentation is solid. Highlights for me would be the first three tracks, basically.